general modding question

[sirtis]

Hi, I am starting a mod and I was wondering if it is possible to add requirements to the Vehiclesize.txt file in the data folder. I would like to add generators to the game and have them be a requirement on every starship. Please let me know if this is possible. I have tried it and I can't get it to show up in game.

[Suicide Junkie]

Other than the ones already defined, no.
You could merge Lifesupport & crew quarters, then use the freed-up requirement to do reactors.

OR, you can merely make reactors useful to put on ships, so that players "have to" design them in.
By this, try replacing "supply storage" with "reactor power".
Give your reactors "solar supply generation" plus "supply storage".
Each reactor will then allow your ship to do only so many things per turn.
In order to design a transport, one reactor is enough. To build a BattleCruiser capable of firing its wavemotion gun 10 times per game turn, you'd need 10 transport reactors, or one giant battle reactor.

[sirtis]

I tried merging them and then editing the requirement list but SE4 would then give an error on startup saying that field Requirement Must Have Brige (or LS, or CQ) not found. What I am going to do instead is just remove Bridge, Life Support, and Crew Quarters all together. If you think about it, they are fairly redundant. No starship would be built without these function or they would be, in effect, really pretty pieces of scrap metal. I will instead merge their abilities in with generators and have generators used by default in the absence of them.

[Suicide Junkie]

if you copied that message down exactly, then you need one more 'd' in "brige"

quote:

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If you think about it, they are fairly redundant. No starship would be built without these function or they would be, in effect, really pretty pieces of scrap metal.

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You just described the point of requiring a bridge/lifesupport/crewquarters component: the fact that they can be destroyed in combat! If they were merely part of the hull, then you've made an invulnerable command & control structure.
Especially with null space weapons, the B/LS/CQ are critical systems to simulate in the battle engine.

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I don't know what you tried to do to merge them, but you don't need to adjust the ship hulls! (yet)

What I meant was this:
- Edit components.txt
- Find lifesupport; increase the space taken to 20kT, and change the image to the crew quarters image.
- Change the description to something like "Habitable areas on the ship, including crew quarters, hallways, lifts, and social rooms"
- give reactors the ability from crew quarters.
- delete crew quarters.

Now, go back and increase or decrease the value of "min crew quarters" to set the required reactors.